Steam hydraulic hoist.



I PATENTED OCT. 16

v H. RIDGWAY. STEAM HYDRAULIC HOIST.

APPLICATION mam 831913.30, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. RIDGWAY, or ooArEsvmLn. PENNSYIJvANIA. 7

i s'rEANI HYDRAULIC} Hols-r. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, W'ILLIAM H. RIDGWAI,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Steam Hydraulic Hoists, of which the following is a specificasaid steam or other fluid is exhausted in order to permit said cage or platform to descend. Hereinafter for convenience I shall allude to the fluid under pressure as steam.

The objects of myinvention are to prevent the sudden or abrupt starting of the movement of the hoist in its ascent, to counterbalance or partially counterbalance the weight of the hoist, to permit free escape of the steam from the pressure-tank when the exhaust :is open,"to maintain at all times a full supply of water or other liquid in the pressure-tank, and to permit of the proper overflow of Water from said tank without lossof steam.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of a platform-hoist, illustrating.

the application of my invention thereto. Fig. 2 1s a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, of the pressure-tank, valve-chest, and valve-operating mechanism. Fig. 3 is a lan view, partly in section, of said valve-c est and valve-operating mechanism. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the steam-spreader with which the pressure-tank is provided. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of said steamspreader, and Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a combined drainage and check valve with which the pressure-tank is provided.

Referring first to Fig. 1 of the drawings, 1 represents the platform of a hoist which is mounted upon a piston-rod or plunger 2 and is adapted to move vertically between guides 3, the piston-rod or plunger being adapted to a cylinder 4 and being caused to rise when liqhulild under pressure is admitted to the said cy der and permitted to descend when said liquid is exhausted from the cylinder. It should be understood, however, that m invention is not limited to a direct-acting oist Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 86, 1904-; Serial No. 226,690.

manner Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

of the character described but is applicable as well to elevators in which the movement of the piston or plunger in the cylinder is transmitted to the cage or platform through the medium of intervening ro esand pulle s. In fact, the character of the hoisting mechanism forms no essential part of my invention, the latter relating to the construction of the ressure-tank, its valves and valve mechanism, and to the location of said tank in re spect to the cylinder of the hoisting mechanism.

The pressure-tank is shown at 5 and is located at a higher level than the cylinder 4, bein connected to said cylinder by a pipe 6, so t at av hydrostatic column is rovlded, said column having sufficient hea to counter'balance, or partially counterbalance, the weight of the platform 1 and plunger 2 or other hoisting devices which may be emplolyed in connection with the cylinder.

he ipe 6 is preferably furnished with a stop-va ve 7, connected to a controlling-r0 e 7, so that it can be operated independent y of the valve mechamsm described hereinafter.

'The pressure-tank 5 is when the hoistlatform is at its lowest point intended to be led with water or other liquid up to the level of an overflow-pipe 9, and in order to preserve a proper supply of liquid in the tank at all timessuch liquid in limited volume is constantly fed to the tank 5 through a suitably-valved pipe 10,"tl 1e surplus liquid passing off throu h the overflow-pi e 9, which is provided wit a valve resemb g an ordinary check-valve used in an inverted position, such valve be shown in Fig. 6, on reference to which it will be observed that the valve has a casing 11, with partition 12, on the under side of which is formed a seat for a spherical valve 13, the latter being) normally supported in a position slightly elow this seat by means 0 a rest earned by a suitable bottom ca 14. A valve constructed in this permit of a slow flow of the overflow-Water or other liquid through the same in the direction of the arrows shown in Fi .6; but a quicker rush of steam or other fluid through the overflow-pipe 9 will effect the lifting of the valve 13, so as to close the same against its seat and arrest the further flow of the steam.

A suitable vent-pip: 15 provides for the escape of any steam w 'ch may pass before the closing of the valve.

The upper portion of the pressure-tank 5 communicates, throu h a pi e 16, with a steam-chest 17, whio has t ree chambers 18, 19, and 20, the chamber 18 being the livesteam chamber, the chamber 19 constituting a steam-distributing chamber, and the chamber 20 an exhaust-chamber, said chambers 19 and 20 being in communication with each other through an opening 21 in the central partition, as shown in Fig. 3, which opening can be opened or closed by movement of a valve 22, contained in the exhaust-chamber 20, and operated in the manner hereinafter described.

The end of the pipe 16 which projects into the pressure-tank 5 is provided with a steamspreader 23, which consists of a hollow circular disk having around its periphery tangentially-disposed outlets 24, said spreader also having in its top openings 25, which are normally closed by internal valves 26, the latter being self-closing, but free to open when the pressure outside of the spreader is greater than the pressure inside of the same.

In the partition between the chambers 18 and 19 of the valve-chest is an opening forming a seat for a valve 27, the latter having a rod which asses through a'stufling-box on the top of t e valve-chest and is connected to a lever 28, hung at one end to a link 29 on the valve-chest and provided at its opposite end with a de ending pawl 30, which 1s normally held in t e position shown in Fig. 2 by a spring 31, but can yield in the direction of the arrow a ainst the pressure of the said spring when su cient force is exerted to thus move it.

The pawl 30 is acted upon by the teeth of a ratchet-wheel 32, which is secured to a shaft 33, having a sheave 34, around which asses the governing rope or chain 8, said sha also having an eccentric 35, whose rod 37 is connected to the rod 38 of the valve 22, as shown in Fig. 3. The movement of the valve 22 is in excess of the width of the port or passage 21, and the ratchet-wheel 32 has a blank ortion 36, corres onding to that portion 0 the movement of iihe valve which 1s actually devoted to o ening and closing said part.

If the oisting-platform is lowered, the

valve 27 closed, the passage 21 closed by the valve 22, the water in the tank 5 at the level of the overflowipe, and the space in the tank above the 'level of the'water filled with air, manipulation of the controlling rope or chain 8 so as to cause forward movement of the shaft 33 and wheel 32 will effect a number of successive openings and closings of the valve 27 depending upon the extent of the forward movement of the ratchet-wheel, and consequently upon the number of teeth of the same which act upon the pawl 30, the live steam under pressure therefore passing in a series of successive impulses from the chamber 18 of the valve-chest into the distributingchamber 19 and thence into the spreader 23,

by which it is discharged in the form of tangential jets into the upper portion of the pressure-tank 5, the water or other liquid bein thereby forced from said tank into the py inder 4, so as to 'raise the hoist, as shown in i s. 1 and 2. A

y admitting steam into the distributingchamber 19 of the valve-chest in a series of successive impulses in the manner described a gradually-increasing pressure is exerted upon the water or other liquid in the pressuretank, and the plun er in the cylinder 4 is started slowly am? adually attains its maximum speed, there y preventing the sudden or abrupt start which is likely to result if the full volume of steam under pressure is at once admitted to the pressure-tank. The steam dischar ed by the spreader into the upper portion of t e pressure-tank retains its position therein, a body of air intervening between the steam and the surface of the water, which body of air acts as a non-conductor and serves to revent the relatively rapid condensation o steam, which would ta e place if the steam came in direct contact with the water.

When it is desired to permit the descent of the hoist, the governing rope or chain 8 is moved in a direction the o posite of that before described, which has tl ie effect of turning the eccentric 35 so as to move the valve 22 rearwardly in the exhaust-chamber 20 of the valve-chest, thereby uncovering the passage 21 and opening the upper end of the pressuretank to the exhaust, the backward movement of the ratchet-wheel 32 during the earlier part of said movement causing 1ts successive teeth to trip the pawl 30 and the blank portion 36 of the ratchet-wheel being finally brought under the pawl, so that there is-no movement of the valve-lever 28 during such backward movement of the ratchet-wheel.

When the ratchet-wheel 32 is again turned forwardly, there is, owing to theblank portion 36 of said wheel, no operation of the lever 28 and valve 27 until the valve 22 has been moved forwardly to an extent suflicient to close the exhaust.

The steam escapes from the upper portion of the pressure-tank 5 throu h the openings 24 of the spreader 23 and a so through the 'valved openings 25 of the same, the latter increasing the area of escape as compared with the area of inlet, so that the steam can be lp uicklyexhausted from the pressuretan Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of the hoisting-cylinder, the li uid-containing tank communicating therewith and means for admitting steam to said tank by a succession of impulses, substantially as s ecified.

2. The com ination of a hoisting-cylinder,

lot

a liquid containing tank communicating therewith, valves for admitting steam to and exhausting it from said tank, means for actuating said valves includinga pawl and ratchet for the steam-valve, said ratchet having a blank portion whereby opening of said valve is prevented until after the exhaust-valve has been closed, and an overflow-pipe for the tank, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the hoisting-cylinder, the liquid-containing tank communicating therewith, a steam-chest having a valve for governing the flow of steam from said chest into the tank, a lever connected to said valve and means for vibrating said lever so as to alternately open and close the valve and admit steam -to the tank in a succession of im ulses, substantially as specified.

4. he combination of'the hoisting-cylinder, the li uid-containing tank communicating therewith, a steam-chest, a valve controllin the flow of steam from said chest into the tan andmeans for operating said valve, said means comprising a toothed wheel and a transmitting device having a pawl acted upon by said wheel, said awl being free to move in one direction but eld against movement in the opposite direction, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of the hoisting-cylinder, the liquid-containin tank communicating therewith, a steam-c est having a valve for controlling flow of steam into the tank and another valve for controlling the exhaust of steam from the tank, a valve-operating shaft, and means whereby a movement of said shaft in one direction causes it to operate the inlet-valve so as to admit steam in a succession of impulses while movement of the shaft in the opposite direction causes it to operate the exhaust-valve, substantially as specified.

6. The combination in a hoisting apparatus, of a hoisting-cylinder, a liquid-containing tank communicating therewith, valves for controlling the inlet of steam to and its exhaust from said tank, and means for operating said valves, said means including an eccentric connected to one valve and a mutilated ratchet operative upon the other valve the ratchet having an inactive portion placed to prevent opening of its valve until after the eccentric has been sufiiciently moved to close its valve, substantially as s ecified.

7. The combination of t e hoisting-cylim' der, the li uid-containing tank communicating therewith, the steam-chest having a livesteam chamber and a distributing-chamber, a valve governing the flow from one chamber to the other, mechanism including a pawl and ratchet for operating said valve and a. communication between the distributing- 1ghgmber and the tank, substantially as speci- 8. The combination of the hoisting-cylinder, the liquid-containin tank communicating therewith, a valve-c est having a live steam chamber, a distributing-chamber, and an exhaust-chamber, a communication between said distributingchamber and the tank, a valved communication between the live-steam chamber and the distributingchamber, and a valved communication be tween the distributing-chamber and the exhaust-chamber, with ratchet mechanism for causing steam to be admitted in a series of impulses, substantially as specified.

9. The combination of the hoisting-cylinder, and the liquid-containing tank communicating therewith, with a steam-supply pipe and a spreader contained in the tank and consisting of a hollow disk with tangential exit-openings in its peripheral portion, and provided with exhaust-valves, substantially as specified.

10. The combination of the hoisting-cylinder, the liquid-containing tank communicating therewith, a combined steam inlet and outlet pipe communicating with the tank and a spreader connected to said pipe and havin o enings through which the steam flows otli in entering and leaving the tank, and valved openings through which the steam flows only in leaving the tank, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I havesigned my. name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses,

' WM. H. RIDGWAY.

Witnesses:

THOS. SPACKMAN, N. H. MAITLAND. 

